Talk Country To Me
by ThickerThanLove
Summary: A one shot that refused to leave me alone. After the Buu fiasco, Gohan and Videl have become a regular thing and are learning all kinds of things about one another. Something that surprises Videl is to learn that Gohan has a natural country accent, one picked up from his parents. And it surprises her even more to learn just how much she likes it.


Talk Country to Me

_A short little one shot that refused to leave me alone and simply didn't fit in any other stories. One thing I will always wish the dub did was give Goku and his family the appropriate accent that their Japanese counterparts had. So that is my head canon. They have one. DBZ copyrighted to Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation. No infringement intended._

Videl was entirely unsure the first time she had noticed it.

Maybe it was the way Gohan had said something in class. Or maybe it had been when they had gathered together, briefly, after school with Erasa and Sharpener and Gohan had finally dropped his guard. Maybe it was them officially announcing their courtship (as ChiChi insisted on calling it) to their peers and Gohan had blushed fiercely said he was sure lucky that Videl had 'taken to noticin' me.'

Videl didn't know if anyone else had caught it but she sure had.

And just like when she had started to connect Gohan with the Golden Fighter and eventually with the Great Saiyaman, she became determined to prove her theory right. Oh, if Gohan didn't make it hard though and he refused to give her a straight forward answer.

She was starting to notice though. The little things that he couldn't control even when he was trying oh-so-hard to. The way his 'a's were always hard no matter how he tried to soften them up. The way he would drop the endings off of words. The way he had to stop and get his grammar correct sometimes if he was in a rush.

She'd been stunned when she'd met ChiChi to heard that deep country accent from her mouth, especially with how proper Gohan always spoke. She had known Gohan lived out in the boonies but to hear an accent she only usually associated with farmers had been weird.

Then there was Gohan's father who WAS a farmer and had the accent to match. Goku's tone was a little different from ChiChi's. His was more the lack of formal speech, the dropping of words or endings whereas ChiChi's had a very distinct hardness to her consonants-though Goku certainly had a hard 'a' instead of a soft one. But if Goku's was hard, ChiChi's was a kick to the jaw.

Given how high Gohan's grades were maybe it should not have been a shock to discover that being well spoken had been on his list of subjects too. Yet, it still was surprising for her to realize that despite all outward appearances-it appeared Gohan had a country accent himself.

And now, she was lying awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to imagine what it would sound like when out full force. She had heard a glimpse of it today when Goku appeared out of nowhere at the end of the day to take Gohan home. Something about a family picnic or something that night and needing his help to get "some good fish!" for it.

Gohan had ran for his father after a quick goodbye and Videl had heard him shout, "Alright, fishing!"

Except it had come out as "A'right! Fishin'!"

Maybe she should have just shrugged it off, accepted that at least now she had proof of her being right, at least on some level. Yet, she couldn't. Erasa had nudged her after the two had left and whispered, "You're blushing, Videl, what's up?"

Placing a hand to her face at the memory, she cursed the flushness that had taken her face again. What was wrong with her? There was no reason to blush, there was no reason to be ruminating on this, there was no reason to even be pondering this at all beyond a simple new fact about Gohan.

Yet, here she was, imagining and repeating Gohan's voice in her head and feeling her cheeks burn and her jaw ache because of her grinning so wide.

She…liked…that accent on him.

She liked how it sounded. She liked how his eyes lit up when he wasn't worried about being so formal. She liked how it made her heart thump and her breath flutter. That tone, the way he said those words…she wondered how he'd look hot and sweaty in the field without a shirt on.

Sitting upright, Videl shook her head, fiercely back and forth. "No. No. I do not need to be thinking about that."

Except after what she had seen he was capable of doing…yes, yes, yes, she wanted to see that. She could only imagine what that shirt of his hid. If the biceps that she COULD see were any indication…

Groaning out loud to herself, Videl reached for her phone and looked at the time. Not quite nine yet. Gohan would still be awake, she was fairly certain. After a moment delay, she dialed the number for the Son house and waited, cursing the many images that ran through her head and how every single one of them was far from appropriate.

"Hey, what's up?"

A voice in the background called "Goku! You can't answer like that!"

The fact that she had just been having very…well, inappropriate images of the man's son that she was now talking to only served to make her throat a little dry. She swallowed and coughed once then said, "M-Mr. Son, it's Videl. Is Gohan there?"

"Oh, hey, Videl! Sure. Hold on. Hey, Gohan! It's Videl!"

Again, in the background, she could faintly hear a

"Is that your girlfriend callin', Gohan?"

"Shut up, Goten!"

"Don't talk like that to your brother; Goten stop picking on your brother."

Was that what a normal family sounded like? As frantic and hectic as it sounded, the concept made Videl smile. After a moment, Gohan's familiar tone came on the line. He sounded frazzled, frustrated but there was still that softness to it.

But not the accent.

"Hi, Videl. Are you okay?"

It hadn't occurred to her but…yes, she'd never called Gohan at home before. She'd gotten his number after the messy reunion on the Lookout but she had not thought about using it. Yet, here she was, ringing him up like they were…

Well, they WERE going out together so, this was normal, wasn't it?

"Yeah, I'm fine, Gohan. I didn't catch you guys going to bed or anything did I?"

"Naw, not for another half hour for Goten and Mom and Dad and I will be up for a little bit."

"Good. I was thinking…if you're not busy tomorrow, could you maybe…show me around that mountain of yours?"

There was a distinct pause on the other end of the phone and she pondered if she had been too forward, asked something weird or—

"You wanna come hang out here?"

"Oh, Kami, is she asking you on a DATE?!" A shrill voice shouted in the background.

"Mom!"

Despite herself, Videl laughed. That seemed to break Gohan's nervousness and yes, yes, yes, she heard just the faint twang of that accent. A slight hardness on his vowels. She was suddenly happy that she was sitting because she kicked her legs back and forth like a fool.

"Well, sure, Videl if you want. When do you want to come?"

"Invite her for lunch, invite her for lunch!" came the sharp order from across the room.

"Mom! Let me talk!"

"Invite her, Gohan!"

Videl spoke up "Papa and I have something in the morning. He's taking me for a father-daughter lunch. But I could be there afterwards, maybe around one?"

"Sure. Enjoy lunch with your Dad and we'll be here when you get done. If…if that's what you want—"

"Ask if she wants to stay for dinner then!—"

"ChiChi, leave 'em alone!" Goku was laughing though so any bite that statement might have had was lost.

"Is Videl gonna be my new big sister?"

"Goten! Stop it! She is not!"

"Is too, is too. I heard you talkin' about her in your sleep."

"MOM! DAD! Please?!"

Videl laughed again, loudly, amid a faint voice of Goku's telling Goten to go get his bath before the monster from the woods was attracted to his stench and ate him. "That's fine, Gohan. See you tomorrow."

"…great. Sorry about -"

"They're fine, Gohan. See you soon."

Hanging up, Videl flopped onto the bed; mind swirling but at least now, she could sleep some.

OOO

She made it over to Mount Paouz by about two in the afternoon. Her father HAD taken her out to lunch; that hadn't been a lie. But, given their celebrity status, lunches always took twice as long as it did for regular people. Truth be told, she was considering seeing if ChiChi's offer about dinner still stood.

It didn't take her long to spy Gohan standing a good ways away from the house, by the entrance to the wood. Dropping from the air, a little faster than she meant to, she plopped on the ground in front of him, gathered her balance, and…

Burst out laughing.

Gohan blushed red to the roots of his hair. Which was slicked back with oil so thick that it shone in the light. It went pretty well with the suit, tie and thick slacks he was wearing. Videl gathered herself and remarked,

"Your Mom?"

"No matter what I told her, she refused, said I had to make a good impression."

"She does know that we have been doing outings with Erasa and Sharpner for a while, right?" She raised a brow "And we technicially had the Tournament."

"Best not to argue with my Mom." Gohan advised. "Only Dad can get away with it and that's only on specific circumstances."

Videl smiled, "Well, I'll take your word for it. Can you even get around in those clothes?"

The teen grinned, "Course I can."

The slight flush took Videl's face again at the slight twang and she found herself half pouting when Gohan corrected himself "I know this mountain inside out, Videl. There's a lot of things I can show you so what do you want to see?"

"Anything you want to show me." She answered. "But…well, if your Mom is saying this is a date, can I make a suggestion?"

Standing upright, Gohan answered, "Sure. Go ahead. Was I supposed to bring you flowers? I know where the prettiest ones grow and…"

Videl lifted herself up with her ki and dug her fingers into Gohan's hair, through the thickness of the gel and she ruffled and tugged and pulled until the thick encasement broke away. Gohan's trademark spikes sprung loose and she grinned before loosening his tie and pulling at his jacket until he caught the hint and took it off, laying it on a tree branch. "Better."That left him with a button up shirt and underpants and after a minute, Gohan took the button up shirt off too, leaving him with a tank top and slacks.

And ooo, her imagination did not do him justice. The biceps were just the start. The chest, the stomach. She had not seen such muscle definition…well, ever. Closest thing she could picture was a marble statue. It was like seeing an ancient god in flesh.

"I like you better like this." She went on. "Like you are."

His face relaxed considerably. "You do?"

"Of course I do." She meant what she said too and she dropped to the ground to reinforce it. "I like YOU Gohan. That means you like you are, half Saiyan and everything that comes with it." She paused, considered then decided since she was being a stubborn, hard headed girl, she might as well go full force with it. "I…can you talk normal with me?"

"Normal?" He asked. "I am…"

"I mean, like…not formal. Not the taught be-polite speech but just…normal. Like you would with your family."

He lingered there a minute, staring at her. "Mom always said I should be careful with my speech. Her and Dad weren't as well educated as I am and she didn't want me to get judged for it."

Putting her hands on her hips, Videl remarked, "Well, maybe some people will judge you for it but I won't. I…like how you sound."

There she'd said it.

Gohan stared at her a minute longer, looking her over. She could feel her face burn and her ki was doing something crazy that she knew he had to pick up on. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. This was supposed to…well, she didn't know HOW this was supposed to go but not like this!

"Ya know I'm gonna sound funny."

Oh, it was like her heart exploded. She was fairly certain that her pupils would have turned to hearts if they'd been able to. In that moment, Gohan…in dress slacks, a tank top and boots and messy, greased hair was the most handsome, sexy and beautiful creature on the planet. He could have asked her to surrender her name, her riches, anything right now and she would have gladly done it to stay by his side and just drown in that voice over and over.

Was this what Erasa went on about with movie stars and…

"You sound like you. I told you. I like the REAL you." She finally said.

Gohan smiled, a full rich and genuine smile. "And I like the real you, Videl."

She stepped forward, threw her arms around his neck, pushed herself up to her tiptoes and whispered to his ears, "Then, talk country to me."

"A'right, Videl."

Yep. She was going to get used to this.


End file.
